Wildcard (5 page)

LuvRay twisted, turning to a fighting crouch
as the Sergeant landed. He overshot, having expected LuvRay to keep
going after the pellet hit him. He landed to LuvRay’s right, forced
into a last minute roll, but managed to put a knee strike on
LuvRay’s hand, forcing it into his face. The Sergeant rolled
through, putting a few feet between the two of them so that LuvRay
could not be on him from behind. He was up, in neutral martial arts
stance as LuvRay slammed into him. LuvRay bit off the end of his
right pinky, just as the Sergeant brought a left elbow strike into
an acupressure point behind his ear, knocking him unconscious.

The Sergeant stood. “Est-ce que
quellqu’un
as une serviette?”
People were mostly fleeing the scene, but a few
hardy souls stayed to watch. The French were so polite. Somebody
would surely give him a handkerchief to stop the blood.

Karl disappeared, and Martha couldn’t find
him. It had been eight years since she left him in Grenoble. She
kept track of his life, watching from a distance, as he grew,
became a man, went to college in Lyons. Now he was gone without a
trace, leaving her desperate to know where. She didn’t cultivate
many sources, and dropped them after a few meetings. She kept
meetings years apart, as well. She had a few contacts she had only
used once. Valuable, and they had no idea who she was.

She burned them all up looking for Karl, and
found nothing.

Never giving a name, in small, prefurnished
apartments with the blinds drawn, without acquaintances, she lived
on the fringe. She owned only enough to carry in a small suitcase
and relocated frequently. Sometimes she felt free and unattached,
but happiness was not a thing she thought of anymore. She hungered
for contact, but eschewed it to protect Karl.

She sat on the bed and read the poem given
to her eight years ago, just before she left Karl in Grenoble. For
the thousandth time she read it.

aloneliness

one will come who has been stripped of
everything

the darkly favored will find her way
home

the deeply named who can gather love the
furthest

who will harvest herself into horror for the
sake of another

we want nothing in this world, but to be a
part

but a part of us would claim her as our
own

we will find you when your hour is
darkest

bring you home before our dying hour

when all that we see of what lives will
breathe in sharply in fear,

not knowing you are there

what part does the deeply named play as the
drama unfolds

Our hidden, beautiful best, our jewel
without a flaw

a diamond appears which needs no cut,
perfect already

a special treasure found in fields of
hate

we cannot hope but you find us alive

we have been put to this, you and I

to wander desolate through parched lands

longing for each other

for as you remain hidden from all

so, i have chosen to not find you

i honor your wish, deeply named and darkly
favored

what do these, your names, mean to you

have you hidden yourself so thorough

that you do not see the image you reflect
into the world

do the rays coming from the prism through
which your sun shines

flee their source and outstrip your
vision

is your shadow invisible to yourself

like you, like all, no one sees the changing
perceptions of our fellows

as they cast their eye upon us

no one can know what another sees in
themselves

i desire to protect you, to cup you in my
hand and bring you home

a new light for all of our worlds

a flower that may never die

She laid the message down.

The telephone rang. It was one of her
contacts. He had a name for her: RJ Sublime.

When Martha left him, Karl was desolate. It
took months, even with his peculiar resilience, to get his
bearings. He grew up quickly, burying the pain. His natural joy
battle with the pain of being alone - of having no family, of being
abandoned. He found no solace, except for going a bit crazy. He
wanted to find Martha, wanted the simplest thing - someone to love
and be loved by. He knew that wounded, abandoned child would never
really heal. There was too much fear from the hunting world, too
much mystery in his inevitable destiny. Martha’s note told Karl the
awful truth, between the lines. He had been created for something,
some dark purpose. He had to find something, to heal it - and it
was beyond all help. She didn’t say that, didn’t even understand it
herself, but he could read it behind her words. She knew without
knowing and told him without telling. The knowledge was too much
for her, so she shut it away, but still told him.

Karl was a social genius who mirrored
others, a highly gifted empath. His seeming madness was more of a
place to hide, a cover. He had convinced himself of it. A touch of
insanity rendered one invisible. People instinctively looked away;
it made them uncomfortable. People don’t want to know more than
they need to know about a person who is crazy. Karl was actually
among the sanest people. His past made him invisible and this was
the result, a skin of madness over a deep reservoir of sanity, a
lunatic veil to disappear behind. He needed it. Because he craved
love so much, because he was made to love, but his best and only
experience of it was destroyed, he was terrified of it. When all of
a child’s love is torn away, he cannot love properly anymore. So he
forgot Martha, shoved the memory away and lived a shadow of a life.
But he never quit wanting to be a little boy again, in his mother’s
arms.

Somebody named the Sergeant found Karl in
Lyons, where he was taking classes in art and philosophy. He asked
if he wanted to do something truly interesting and Karl agreed
readily. He felt as if something he was waiting for had finally
arrived. He was afraid - he could feel a lot of darkness in the
path, but knew there was no other. He had to be who he was. So Karl
left his life behind, like that. He called an acquaintance to
spread the word so no one would be concerned. He told them he had a
family emergency and had to go for an extended period.

They arrived at the General’s palace in the
middle of the night. During the drive, the Sergeant told him about
a man named LuvRay and another named RJ Sublime, part of the
team.

Four days later, Karl walked into the
spacious dining room, holding a dinner invitation in his hand.
Eight o’clock. He was right on time. A man was in the room. His
face was weathered, brown, and thin. His body was very lean. He
wore a tan leather vest which caught Karl’s eye, Indian looking. He
also wore moccasins of a similar material. Karl held out his hand
and heard a laugh.

RJ Sublime. Karl had met him two days
before. “He doesn’t do that,” RJ said. “Not every canus is
domesticus.”

LuvRay looked at the hand and blinked
slowly.

Karl dropped it. “My name is Karl. You must
be LuvRay.”

“Hello, Karl.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I know soon.” LuvRay had such a deep,
brooding energy, a well of wisdom carved in a being born into pain,
who had known so much that fear was a stranger.

“Why did you come?”

“The Sergeant bring me. I look someone.
Martha.”

Karl jerked his head up. “Martha? You’re
looking for Martha?”

“Yes. You are surprising?”

“I want to see her again.” Karl closed his
eyes, realized how deeply he missed her. He had not thought of her
much the last few years.

“RJ, you know LuvRay already?”

“I do indeed. Gentlemen, it is a pleasure to
see you this evening. How do you fare under the General’s…unusual
hospitality?”

Karl and RJ talked and LuvRay stood silent
until the General walked in a few moments later, followed by the
Sergeant.

“Chers comrades. Shall we dine?”

The room was as big as an aircraft hangar, a
combination dining, ballroom, and princely salon. It boasted four
enormous chandeliers, two huge fireplaces, an assortment of velvet
and satin furniture for sitting, cherry end tables, Persian rugs,
art works from all over the world, including a Picasso, and a grand
piano. The ceiling was over 6 meters high, supported by red marble
pillars on a light blue marble floor. They sat at the long table in
high oak chairs with red padded velvet seats and backs.“Your
finger,” LuvRay asked the Sergeant. “How is?”

“Gone. How’s your head?”

“Is good.”

“You’re probably wondering why we’re holding
you, LuvRay.”

LuvRay stared blankly at the Sergeant.

“I’m sorry about that, but we thought that
you wouldn’t stay here willingly, knowing what we know about you,
and we need to do something before you find Martha.”

LuvRay said nothing.

“We have another mission of critical
importance. And we need you to meet Karl.”

“I no want be cage.”

“You’re free after dinner.”

LuvRay held, then tipped his head.

Dinner was sumptuous, soup in a wide, flat
bowl followed by a few bites of cheese. Then an entire duck per
person with a side of vegetables. There was a cheese platter
afterwards and dessert. The Sergeant stood to one side, in a
soldier’s relaxed posture.

“Why doesn’t he eat with us?” Sublime asked
the General.

“Because officers and enlisted men do not
dine together.”

“That sounds a bit lonely. It seems that
there’s only the two of you in your army.”

“Who is not lonely in this life, Monsieur
Sublime? And you are here, are you not, keeping me company?”

There were numerous servers moving about,
changing forks, picking up plates and replacing them with bigger or
smaller plates. A violinist began playing during the second
course.

“This is a pretty impressive meal,” Karl
said. “All these servers, a violinist. Why such an affair?”

The General looked surprised. “C’est normal.
I always dine like this. At the palace, at least.”

“Where else is there?”

“Le quartier general. You call it
’eadquarters.”

“What do you want us for, General?” Karl
asked a few minutes later.

“Apres diner. It is not done to discuss
business during the evening meal.”

“I do it all the time,” said RJ.

“You are not French,” The General said
politely, with a touch of arrogance.

Afterwards, they moved to another part of
the room for a digestif, a 200 year old brandy. LuvRay smelled his,
set it on the table. The General offered cigars and Sublime
accepted. The Sergeant stood to the side with his hands clasped
behind his back. The General motioned him to sit with them.

“Messieurs, I have some interesting
proposition for you. Now is a time of great change. Ca commence. It
is to begin.” He leaned forward, making eye contact with each man
in turn. “Powerful forces gather on the horizon which will forever
change this world. We are one of these force. If you will join
me.”

“You’ll find Martha?” Karl asked.

“Yes, soon. But first, it is that we must
gather some informations. The finding of Martha sets a great many
things in motion. We must be prepared.”

“What happen from Martha?” LuvRay moved to
sit on the floor, seeming unconscious of the social oddness.

“She will help us to enlist a
powerful…ally.”

“Who?” Karl smiled, bouncing a bit on the
couch. He picked up his brandy, sipped, set it down, did it again.
He tapped a finger against his chin.

“The Benefactor.”

“Who’s that?”

“I cannot tell you more about this at this
time.”

“What is this great change?” RJ pulled
deeply on his cigar. He leaned his head back and blew upwards. A
large smoke ring came out, then a smaller.

“Humanity evolves. We will surpass a barrier
which now holds back mankind.”

“What might this barrier be?”

“I will be able to explain that more after
we get the informations.”

“Then how do we do that?”

“Sergeant?
S’il vous plaites d’expliquer.”

The Sergeant nodded. “Gentlemen, we have a
mission. We have to steal the information.”

The Sergeant set a small device on the table
and flipped a switch. The sound quality in the room changed
slightly, became fuzzy. He explained the operation. They had to
penetrate two facilities simultaneously, in the U.S. and Germany.
He and LuvRay would take the more dangerous one. They had to
interface with a computer system. The Sergeant would perform the
technical aspects, but LuvRay would give the passcode to access the
system.

“The reason LuvRay has to give the password
is that my voice is on file. The system will recognize me. Even if
my voice is modulated electronically, the system will recognize the
modulation and lock us out. We cannot know whose voice is on file,
but, because of LuvRay’s history, we know his is not. We also must
inload some files.”

Karl and Sublime were to penetrate a
business in Germany. The business was not so secure as it had
nothing of value, except the passcode and the files. The passcode
needed to be transmitted within a few minutes of being found,
because it changed every fifteen minutes, at 5 after, 20 after, 35
after, and 10 till the hour.

Karl and Sublime would be given ID badges to
get past security. Once inside, they had to find room 1215. They
would have a key and the Sergeant would talk them through any
problems. They would do simulations for two days beforehand. LuvRay
and the Sergeant would not do simulations, because they had no
information about their facility.

“I no do,” LuvRay said. “I smell lie.”

The Sergeant looked evenly at LuvRay,
waiting. The General set down his cigar in a standing, polished
silver ashtray beside his chair. “Monsieur Chose, I assure you that
what we tell you is truth.”